Andrea Askowitz.

Speak up!

If the title of Andrea Askowitz's book, My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy, doesn't make curious, well, then, you're lame. From Saltine cravings to a pity party complete with violin player, this bun-in-the-oven memoir tells it like it is. Well, at least for one 30-something, single lesbian. And who doesn't love those? Askowitz, who grew up in Miami, will be at the Book Fair on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 1:30 p.m. Visit www.miamibookfair.com for more info, and in the meantime, read below about an old folks home, a frog's butt and Madonna.

Favorite Miami icon: Vizcaya. It's so pretty.

Restaurant where you'd have your last meal: I have to say I don't love the food in Miami. I grew up on it, but I lived in New York and L.A., so I know good restaurants. If I had to have my last meal here, I'd be sad.

Most recent "Miami" moment: I was campaigning for Obama on election day. I went to the Palace, the assisted living facility where my 93-year-old grandmother lives to help her and the other old people get to the polls. Before we left I went into the dining room to try to gather more voters I was profiling, looking for the Jewish grandmothers, when I saw a black couple. I said, "Hey, do you want help getting to the polls? Let's go, Obama needs you." This very old black woman looked up at me and said, "Girl, I'm votin' for McCain. I was a WAC. I'm a veteran. Do you want me to vote for a man... or for the country."

Favorite Spanish phrase: Every time my daughter gets hurt, Victoria (my partner, from Venezuela) or Ana (our nanny, from Columbia) says: Sana que sana, colita de rana. Si no sanas hoy, sanaras manana. In English it means, Heal, heal, frog's butt. If you don't heal today, you'll heal tomorrow. We say it all the time in English and Spanish and it always works to make my daughter feel better.

Miami wouldn't be Miami without: bad drivers.

Miami really needs: more bike lanes and fewer strip malls.

Event I look forward to every year: The book fair. Great authors. Great presentations. I can't wait.

Favorite hidden gem: You know those giants brass boots that are in the traffic circle at Sunset and Old Cutler? I love those boots. I don't know what they mean or why they're there, and sometimes they're impossible to find because they're grown over with trees and stuff, but I remember sitting on them in high school with my friend, the one I wrote about in my book. My best friend from high school, who died from cancer, just after having a baby. Those boots remind me of her.

Best night I ever had in Miami took place: on the streets when my friends and I drove around for hours trying to find Madonna's house to crash her New Year's party. We never found it.

On a Saturday night I can always be found: in bed. I'm a mom.

Published: 11/08